Dana White confirms who will get the next UFC welterweight title shot if Kamaru Usman wins at UFC 261

Dana White has reportedly confirmed who will get the next UFC welterweight title shot if Kamaru Usman wins at UFC 261. White has revealed that Colby Covington will be next in line to fight Usman if the latter emerges victorious at UFC 261.

As reported by Jed I. Goodman, UFC president Dana White has stated that should Kamaru Usman win this weekend, he’ll fight Colby Covington next.

Dana said if Usman wins this weekend Colby is next.

— Jed I. Goodman (@jedigoodman) April 20, 2021

Jed I. Goodman’s tweet read as follows:

“Dana said if Usman wins this weekend Colby is next.”

Kamaru Usman and Colby faced off inside the octagon at UFC 245 (December 2019). The fight was a closely-contested affair that witnessed Usman defeating Covington via fifth-round TKO to successfully defend his UFC welterweight title.

Despite having competed in what many regard as one of the greatest MMA fights of all time, the rivalry between Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington is far from over. In the aftermath of their fight, Covington has consistently asserted that he would like to face and beat Usman in a rematch.

Colby Covington wasn’t happy with the stoppage in his first fight against Kamaru Usman

Colby Covington (left); Marc Goddard (center); Kamaru Usman (right)

The vast majority of MMA fans and experts hailed their fight for being an intense back-and-forth war, and the judges’ scorecards notably attested to this fact. One of the three judges had Kamaru Usman and Colby Covington tied at 2 rounds each, heading into the fifth and final round. On the other hand, another judge had it 3-1 in favor of Usman, whereas the third judge had it 3-1 in favor of Covington.

Ultimately, the UFC welterweight champion didn’t leave it in the hands of the judges as he secured a fifth-round TKO stoppage of Colby Covington.

The stoppage didn’t come without its fair share of controversy, however, as Covington later accused referee Marc Goddard of prematurely stopping the fight. Chaos noted that Goddard left Usman off the hook for multiple fouls and robbed him (Covington) of the opportunity to kill or be killed.

Furthermore, Colby Covington alleged that Goddard discriminated against him due to the differences in their respective political beliefs. Following this, Covington competed just once, securing a fifth-round TKO win over Tyron Woodley at UFC Fight Night: Covington vs. Woodley (September 2020).

Meanwhile, Kamaru Usman has competed twice since his fight against Covington – scoring a unanimous decision win over Jorge Masvidal at UFC 251 (July 2020) and a third-round TKO win over Gilbert Burns at UFC 258 (February 2021). Presently, Kamaru Usman is set to put his UFC welterweight title on the line in a rematch against Jorge Masvidal at UFC 261 on April 24th, 2021.

It's been a year since Kamaru Usman silenced Colby Covington at #UFC245 and defended his belt! pic.twitter.com/T5hTaVzbzj

— UFC on BT Sport (@btsportufc) December 14, 2020